ON DECK: Early wake-up call

It was an early wake-up call for someone who usually doesn't have to be at work until 3 p.m., but I didn't mind it so much Thursday morning because I was getting up to watch baseball.

I saw Christian Marquez spin a brilliant seven-inning complete game for the Yuma Diablos. The southpaw toyed with the big, bad L.A. boys, striking out seven while allowing only three hits.

But better than that, it was just the fact that I was in the sunshine watching my favorite game, something I've never even thought about doing on Dec. 27 until I moved to Yuma.

I've been reminded that here, baseball isn't a summer sport. It's year-round. It was fascinating getting to sit down with Cecil Fielder, Kevin Mitchell and a host of other baseball old-timers and talk about what baseball was like when they were kids. Seeing those guys reminisce about the good old days from Little League to World Series championships was something to behold.